Ashya Janai Harley needed a commercial driver’s license in order to be a bus driver. Which apparently was easier to obtain than expected. Harley just falsified some documents to get her own Virginia commercial driver’s license, fraudulent though it may be. Which she used to gain employment as a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) bus driver. On July 22, 2022, Harley started her employment at WMATA only to be terminated three months later during the training phase of her employment for reasons unrelated to her license. What’s an unemployed fraudulent bus driver to do? Turn the tables on those who did her wrong. Harley began to charge people for her services to help them obtain commercial and non-commercial driver’s licenses for which they too did not qualify.
While not altering identities, Harley would electronically alter driving transcripts and proof of residency documents required by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue driver’s licenses. Which wasn’t that complicated since Harley often reused many of the same documents. She actually used her own AT&T statement for more than 54 fraudulent license applications. She also reused her own driver’s transcripts. And Harley used her mother’s address in Alexandria on more than 67 proof of residency documents. A Virginia DMV customer service agent finally noticed the repetition and alerted the DMV Law Enforcement.
Harley wasn’t too secretive about her scheme. To drum up clients interested in fraudulent licenses, she advertised her services on her Instagram accounts. Overall, Harley aided and abetted in the acquisition of at least one hundred and twenty-four Virginia driver’s licenses for individuals who were not qualified to receive them. Virginia DMV has since cancelled all of them.
Harley is scheduled to be sentenced on September 26, 2024. Excellent job by the DMV’s Law Enforcement Division.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Fired Virginia bus driver scammed system for more than 100 fake driver’s licenses” published by the New York Post on June 6, 2024.
A 30-year-old Virginia bus driver who was axed from her job turned the tables and scammed the system by peddling more than 100 phony driver’s licenses, federal prosecutors said.
Ashya Janai Harley admitted that she ran the fake license scam for more than a year, charging her illicit customers $300 a pop for a standard license or $450 for a commercial driver’s license – and now faces 15 years behind bars when she’s sentenced in September, the feds announced.
